writing

Carly Brooke Feinman, a Chappaqua native and Greeley alum, is making a splash in the theatre world just two years after graduating Wesleyan University. This past summer, her original musical co-written with Cassie Wilson, If Sand Were Stone, made its Off-Broadway debut as part of the New York Music Festival. As if that wasn’t enough, her play Reflux was selected to premier Off-Broadway a few weeks later as part of the Broadway-Bound Theatre Festival.

Feinman loved growing up in Chappaqua. She always enjoyed poetry and writing and assumed that would lead her to a career in journalism or poetry. Her favorite teacher at Greeley was her creative writing teacher, Mrs. Chadwick. She “was the first teacher to really take interest in me and encouraged me to continue writing. I’m so grateful for her,” Feinman says.

Feinman’s road to musical theatre began when she took a class in college with the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes, who wrote In the Heights with Lin Manuel Miranda. “She changed everything for me… She is an epic human and one of my dearest friends and mentors. She showed me that the things I love about poetry and the fun language gymnastics I get to do really do lend themselves to theatre. She pushed me to dig deeper and take more classes and I found that I loved it,” recalls Feinman.

It was in Hudes’ musical theatre class where Feinman was paired together with Wilson for an assignment. They immediately clicked and became great friends and collaborators. “To find someone that you want to work with for the rest of your career is such a gift to receive at a young age. We’ve been working on the musical for two and a half years. There will be future iterations of it and it’s more fulfilling every time we touch it,” says Feinman.

If Sand Were Stone is a musical that follows a poet as she and her family grapple with her early onset Alzheimer’s Disease at the peak of her career. It’s based on a true story about Wilson’s grandmother. Despite the sad subject, there is joy to be found in the moments on stage between family members. In preparation for writing this musical, Feinman and Wilson volunteered at an assisted living facility for memory care. “Just as many times as we would leave crying, we would leave laughing. Where there’s sadness, there’s joy. That’s a fundamental belief of ours,” says Feinman.

Feinman is proud of the fact that the musical’s creative team was all female, under 25, and included women of color. “Cassie and I are from very lucky backgrounds, we are hyper aware of the advantages we’ve had, and we have no interest in doing anything besides trying our best to be inclusive and to use what we’ve been given and share,” she explains.

Her other production this past summer, Reflux, is an absurdist comedy in a dystopian world where a man and woman are paired together randomly, and sent by boat to navigate the ocean to the honeymoon island where they must have sex. They try to figure out what sex and marriage is and how it fits into society’s expectations spoonfed to them since birth.

In Reflux, the couple is played by two gender non-conforming people of color. “We have all seen the man-woman romantic comedy and I was really interested in disrupting that whole Adam and Eve archetype… I’m interested in centering historically marginalized places and including people who have historically been disenfranchised by the institution of theatre. That’s not something that I’m looking for applause for. I just think it needs to be more of the norm,” says Feinman. Generally, she is drawn to art that disrupts and is different than anything she has seen previously. She was greatly inspired by the musicals Hamilton, In the Heights and Fun Home.

PHOTO BY HAYIM HERON

Feinman is not afraid of laying bare her creative work. “I don’t think you could fail if you try. This summer, if both of the shows were flops, that wouldn’t have been a failure to me. The failure would’ve been chickening out and saying that it would be too much to do in one summer,” she contends.

Feinman is living her dream career. “I’ve only ever wanted to be a writer. To be a songwriter was one of my early goals as a young girl but I don’t know how to play any instruments. In writing musicals, I’ve been able to call myself a songwriter. I’ve always wanted to be a poet and in writing plays, I’ve been able to do that. I’ve always wanted to collaborate with artists I admire and I’m getting to do that now. I’m so happy,” she concludes.

“A recent project-based learning initiative called ‘Say Something’ at Seven Bridges Middle School centered around the notion that while everyone has a voice, it is critical to teach kids how and when to use theirs. Say Something was born from the lessons learned while reading the novel The Giver. The story teaches that our voices help to shape the communities we live in and if we do not speak up, as was the case in the novel, our world will become a colorless if not meaningless one to live in.

“Through classroom investigations and parent/child conversations, students uncovered that they do have opinions and ideas that are worth sharing on a wide variety of issues. To that end, each of them learned features of argument writing (the focus of the unit) to develop a formal letter to an individual or agency regarding a concern or a change that might be worthwhile. 71 letters were sent! While the students’ ideas are wide reaching and varied, their intent was the same. I celebrate their efforts and assure them that even if they do not hear back, they made a difference because they took the time and effort to Say Something!” — Pauline Daglio, 6th Grade Teacher, Seven Bridges

Editor’s Note: The two letters below, for example, were sent here to The Inside Press to address, and we plan to! Dozens more letters have been sent to: Andrew Corsilia, principal; Greg Steifel; assistant principal-Jason Semo, director of physical education, health and athletics; Josh Block, director of technology and innovation; Dr. Christine Ackerman, superintendent; Chappaqua School Board; Chappaqua Town Board; Robert Greenstein, Town Supervisor; Senator Kristen Gillibrand; New Castle Parks and Recreation; President Trump; Mayor DeBlasio; Senator Chuck Schumer; Maria Ferrari Children’s Hospital; Norwalk Hospital; Yorktown Parks and Rec and to several government agencies in Washington DC including the Children’s Bureau and the Department of Public Health, and to several other local business owners as well.

“If nothing else, each student hopes to receive a response that acknowledges his or her request and that provides some form of feedback about his or her cause,” said Daglio. (The Inside Press plans to answer these letters too!)

How Can we Help Families Struggling with School Supplies?

By Natalia Kochut

School supply shopping should be fun and carefree, but not all kids have this experience. Some families don’t have enough money to buy pencils, pens, and textbooks and kids need these necessary supplies. Many people aren’t aware of this problem and we need to start making a change. On the other hand, we can ignore this issue but, what if we take a moment to think about the children’s futures? Do you really want them to live difficult lives? We need to call attention to this issue because, without basic school supplies, kids aren’t able to learn. Families in poverty can barely provide food so most times they aren’t thinking about school supplies. Old school supplies can also cause embarrassment to the child.

About 15 million children in the U.S.A live in poverty. Families who live near or below the poverty line usually struggle to get basic items such as soap, food, or clothes and most times they don’t focus on getting their children new school supplies. If we add more organizations that will donate free supplies to families in need, then children won’t have to worry about saving the one pencil they have. Furthermore, parents won’t have to worry about not being able to provide fundamental objects to their child’s learning. It may be a bit embarrassing going back to school with old, used backpacks and pencil cases. This can also lead to teasing and bullying and no child should have to go through that.

Moreover, kids have trouble learning without proper supplies. The average price for middle school supplies is $520-$1,000. Most families in poverty can’t afford this. For instance, most districts require textbooks which are around $60 each. Without this it is difficult to complete homework assignments and study for tests. Calculators are also another expensive thing on the list. The TI-84 plus CE (usually the one preferred for school) is between $115.59-$150 on Amazon. Above all, kids may suffer and get worse grades because they don’t have good supplies. This can hurt their future of getting into a good college. More donations for necessities in school will make students in poverty feel much better. We need to help their futures and make a change.

Actions need to be taken for kids to have school supplies and people need to become more aware of these issues.

What Can we Do about Girls Being Treated Differently than Boys?

By Grace Nocca

Girls have not been treated the same as boys in sports. This treatment against women who cannot play in the MLB and NFL has to stop. In other words, clearly women have not been able to live up to their full potential, and that is because they have been told they can’t.

Aside from the fact that women are technically allowed to be in the NFL, people keep telling them they cannot. According to the article “An Equal Opportunity League,” Greg Easterbrook said that he checked with the league spokesman Greg Aiello who said, “The NFL has no male-only rule.” That is to say that women are eligible as long as they are three years out of high school and have a usable skill set. So even though women can play, they are not encouraged to do so.

Despite the fact that there has never been a woman in the NFL, Becca Longo could be the first. She is already the first to get a football scholarship to a university. Besides Becca Longo, not every woman has the courage to stand up and take charge, so we need to encourage them. While it may seem like a different approach to professional sports, empowering women to try would make a positive difference.

Caitlin Gailagher, author of “Can a Woman Play in the MLB? Fox’s ‘Pitch,’ “ examines the history that women were once banned from being signed in 1952. Then in 1992 that rule was overturned. In addition, Frances Melissa Mayeux became the “first known female on the MLB registration list” which shows that it is possible to break the chain that has kept females from some professional sports.

In contrast to boys, girls have been told that they are not as good or as talented as boys in some sports. This has to stop! With attention given to this matter, we clearly need to do something about it. Thank you for considering sharing my ideas so that I can help to promote this thinking.

The literature to be studied includes poetry, fairy tales, drama, and 19th-century novels. Modeled on the First-Year Writing Seminars at Princeton University, the program also includes elements designed to prepare students for the college application process, with half of each class meeting devoted to the study of literature and the other half to workshops and exercises geared at building critical reading and writing skills. Students will emerge from the course with a draft of a college application essay.

The Chappaqua Summer Writing Program for Girls is directed by Keri Walsh. Dr. Walsh has taught at Oxford and Princeton University, and is now a professor of English Literature at Fordham University. She is the editor of The Letters of Sylvia Beach (the first publisher of James Joyce’s Ulysses and the owner of the Shakespeare and Company bookshop in Paris). Dr. Walsh is now completing an edition of Joyce’s Dubliners.

On March 8, 2016, surrounded by friends, family and admirers at the Chappaqua Library Theater, New Castle resident Lynda Cohen Loigman officially launched The Two-Family House, an engrossing family saga about two brothers and their families living in postwar Brooklyn that has drawn rave reviews for its compassion, thoughtfulness and complex, vivid character development from the likes of the Associated Press, Publisher’s Weekly, Bookreporter, Booklist Reviews, RT Book Reviews and the Jerusalem Post.

“I am so grateful for the tremendous community support I have received, both from the Chappaqua Library and our town residents,” Loigman said, after reading several passages from the book and answering attendees questions about its background. “It was a thrilling night!”

From Idea to Manuscript

Loigman, who lives in Chappaqua with her husband Bob (“my biggest advocate and Googler”) and children Ellie, 17, and Charlie, 13, did not set out to be a novelist. A graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School, Loigman practiced trusts and estates law at a large Manhattan law firm for eight years, and was then a legal recruiter. She had written poetry throughout high school and college –and considered writing children’s songs because of her facility with rhyme–but had never even taken a creative writing class. She had a story in her head, though, that would not release its grip for 16 years.

Loigman’s mother grew up with her sisters in a two-family house in Brooklyn shared with their three cousins, also girls. The mothers got along well, the six cousins practically siblings. But Loigman’s grandmother always spoke of how she would have liked a boy. Loigman wondered: what if one family only had girls, and the other only boys? Would each crave what the other had?

After losing her mother, Loigman decided to finally write the story that had been evolving in her mind and which she had been bouncing off friends. She registered for “The Writer’s Essential Selves” course at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, a weekly, unstructured class in which the students wrote and discussed whatever they chose. Six and a half years later, Loigman remains a student in the class.

That first class “was a magical, unbelievably talented group of people,” said Loigman, crediting it with truly teaching her how to write. When she began, she had only written the “hook” of her story, yet was encouraged by her teacher and classmates to continue until the story was told.

The Path to Publication

Loigman acknowledges her luck in getting her book noticed and eventually published. Nearing completion of The Two-Family House, she registered for Sarah Lawrence’s June 2014 Publish and Promote Your Book Conference, which included interactive panel discussions with literary agents, editors and publicists and three “pitch sessions” for each registrant. Coincidentally, she was assigned to meet Marly Rusoff, the agent for an old acquaintance. Rusoff liked that Loigman’s story had that “hook” as well as a clear beginning, middle and end, and asked to see the manuscript upon its completion.

Loigman sent the manuscript in late July 2014; two days later, Rusoff called after reading the book in a day and offered to represent her. At Rusoff’s suggestion, Loigman wrote an essay about the inspiration behind the book, which with the manuscript was sent to editors that August.

The Two-Family House was bought that November by editor Jennifer Weis of St. Martin’s Press. The book would be released at the end of winter 2016 (one of three publication periods); cover art was chosen, and advance copies were sent out for feedback and cover “blurbs.”

Promotional Tour and Future Plans

After a launch-week book signing at Scattered Books in downtown Chappaqua, scheduled spring promotional events included (at press time) author readings at Sarah Lawrence, UJA-Federation of New York, the Museum at Eldridge Street, Temple Israel in Westport, and Brookline Booksmith in Massachusetts. Loigman has also received a great deal of support–interviews or “guest blogging” appearances –from writing and book club blogs and websites. The Jewish Book Council has even created a discussion guide for The Two-Family House, which was listed under “Best Books of the Month” in the Goodreads March Newsletter.

Loigman has already started work on her second novel. But in the interim, she hopes to meet someone with a connection to Natalie Portman, who she envisions as the perfect “Rose” in a film adaptation of her debut!

When Inside Chappaqua’s esteemed publisher/editor Grace Bennett advertised for a Guest Editor, I jumped at the opportunity! Not because I love the magazine (though I do!) or because I love writing (though I do that too!), but because I COULD! Jump, that is.

A year ago, such was not the case. Based on the results of an otherwise routine mammogram, I was diagnosed with a rare form of Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Cancer, the Big C. I underwent intensive chemotherapy followed by radiation. The future looked uncertain, and it was all I could do to get through each round, make the best and most of each day. Jumping for anything was out of the question.

Happily, things turned out very well for me. Love, support and care came from near and far as family and friends joined and kept company on my journey; I am eternally grateful to every single one of them. Likewise, I am grateful to the doctors, nurses, therapists and technicians who, quite frankly, saved my life; it’s worth noting how very lucky I was–we are–to live as we do here in Westchester, so close to many of the world’s finest medical centers and communities.

I hope you’ll never need the Cancer and Wellness Center at Northern Westchester Hospital. But, if you do, you’ll find comfort, as well as great care, there; take a tour through this issue with Vicki de Vries.

Do you worry about heart disease? Suffer from headaches? Get S.A.D. at this time of year? Flip forward through the magazine as we share info that may help you or someone you love.

On the lighter side of health, there’s always the hope that a much needed break from routine restores us to our best selves. Let Kate Stone Lombardi inspire you to volunteer, follow Heather Skolnick’s lead and plan a family vacation.

You’ll also find smart insider tips of all kinds (visual “soundbites” if you will) throughout the magazine; just look for our Rx and pushpin note to advise, inspire and help you help yourself!

All those exclamation points in my lead paragraph? Not poor editing, deliberate editorial choices; they represent excitement and happiness, grateful appreciation, humility and even honor. While Descartes gave us I think, therefore I am, I suggest I exclaim because I can! Like many survivors before me, I’ve learned that life is for living. Exclamation point!

As I approach the one-year anniversary of my official remission date, I simply can’t imagine better payment forward than jumping into this issue of Inside Chappaqua!

Barbara Daniel, Local Dog Walker: Dog hikes can be enjoyable in every season when you’re prepared. My favorite winter hiking tool is Yak-Traks. These ‘snow tires’ or ‘chains’ for shoes make it possible to navigate over, or through, snow or icy surfaces. Many local stores sell them or similar brands.

—

Barrie Wolfe, MS RD: Snacking is actually GOOD for you! But there’s an art to it. Instead of grazing on high-calorie junk, my clients eat a “calculated snack”–ideally something with protein and fiber to provide fullness and energy. Indulge in holiday goodies occasionally, but eat a “calculated snack” often. BarrieWolfeNutrition.com

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